


Bittersweet

by tocilar



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-12
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2017-12-23 06:14:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/922966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tocilar/pseuds/tocilar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Gandalf arrives in the nick of time to save the dwarves from the Goblins his magic goes askew and Kili is thrown into another world. Only moments into stumbling in the rain and he is almost killed by a strange object with bright lights. Enter Molly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anything Tolkien related or recognised. I own only the original characters and story that does not take place in the Hobbit. No profit is made of this story but the entertainment of its readers.

The light blinded all in the cavernous space, the force of magic behind the light enough to throw everyone off balance and onto their backs. Time seemed to suspend; weight pressed onto Kili's chest and he felt suffocated. He tried to speak but nothing escaped. Attempts to draw in breath did nothing but constrict his lungs. Kili did not know how long he lay there only that every attempt he made at trying proved futile.

Then it came; a splash upon his cheek – wet and ice cold. He twitched in reaction, fingers clenching subconsciously as another splash followed the second. Groaning, he managed to roll his head to the side and open his eyes.

What in the name Aulë? It was raining. How could it rain beneath the mountain? His forehead creased in confusion as he took his now rather different surroundings.

It was dark and a forest lay around him; dense and overgrown. The rain was steadily becoming heavier and Kili lifted his head up, dark eyes searching for his companions.

Panic seized him.

He was alone.

Alone in an unknown forest, his companions only the Arda knew where they were. He prayed Fili and Thorin were unharmed.

Rolling onto his stomach, Kili pushed himself to his feet, almost slipping on the rocks beneath him. Managing to steady himself, his eyes darted everywhere, trying to discern something that seemed familiar to him of the forest.

He thought of what Thorin would do in such a situation.

Kili knew what his uncle would do – push on, keep moving. Maybe he was on the other side of the Misty Mountains. Perhaps if he found high enough ground he would be able to see how far he had been transported.

When he saw Gandalf again, he would tell the Wizard what he thought of his abilities, damnation or not. He knew that what had happened would not have been at all intentional but Kili was angry that he had been separated from the others, from Fili.

Dark, keen eyes searched the ground for his weapons.

Nothing.

He let off a string of curses in Khuzdul.

Kili knew it was dangerous to linger in the one place too long, especially given that their was a bounty on them, and prayed that Fili and the others, wherever they were chose to do the same thing.

* * *

Molly sighed. The windscreen wipers were swinging back and forth at the highest speed possible, trying to clear off the glass. It lasted only a second before the windscreen was pelted with rain drops again and she was blind again.

Any other time Molly enjoyed the rain just not when she was attempting to drive home and survive the trip. She was doing twenty kilometres under the speed limit just to play it safe. Driving through these back roads may have been quicker but with barely any traffic it meant that if she had an accident she might not have any help come through in time.

Her iPod was playing softly through the stereo, the songs a mix of smooth rock and soundtrack scores. Every now and then she would begin humming along with one of her all time favourites and it soothed her foul mood as she navigated the back roads with the utmost care.

Thinking back on the events of the day, Molly wondered whether or not she'd done the right thing.

Well, she knew it had been the right choice but considering it had been her supervisor, well…

Molly huffed; irritated with herself that she was worrying over it.

Christian needed a good smack across the face that was for certain. He was a sleaze and most of the female staff at the hospital knew it too.

He had dated a handful of her co-workers and they'd found out the hard way what their supervisor was really like beneath the coat, nicely styled hair and brains. She was more than thankful that she had been able to keep under his radar for the past two years when she'd transferred from Detroit General to Brunswick General in Maine well until today that is.

Molly had been none to kind either when it came to turning him down. She had used all manner of curse words and intelligent insults that had come to her mind in the staff break room.

Brunswick was nice – not overly crowded like New York or Detroit but it was still full of drama. Molly had brought a small house about an hour outside of town, giving her some much needed peace from the likes of the town's gossipers.

Despite living alone, she found the car ride coupled with music and the dark served as one of her best times to think.

Molly glanced out her side mirror, unable to see anything yet again. Why couldn't just ease up a little.

* * *

Kili fought his way through the thick shrub and forest floor, cursing whenever he stepped into a deep puddle and almost fell over. His boots were soaked; the rain had drenched his coat and hood, while his hair stuck to his neck and cheeks.

He trudged further on, determined not to stop until he had found his kin and company, or some manner of life.

So concerned with the idea of his brother and friends being injured or worse, Kili did not notice the way in which the forest thinned out. Trees were less crowded among one another, shrubs were few and far between and the ground hardened.

He coughed, drawing his hood tighter and pressed on.

The trees disappeared. He stopped. Glancing round he noticed that a hard and dark path stretched out and separated the forest into two. Without any light, he was unable to make out what the path was made of. It was not the cobblestones like which he had seen in Bree.

Kili hesitantly stepped upon the path, somewhat pleased when he found it solid and firm beneath him. Glancing down one end of it, he wondered where it would lead to.

He heard a noise behind him and then he was blinded for the second time in less than a day only instead of being winded and dazed his entire world went dark as something large hit him.

* * *

The relative silence in the car was broken when Molly's phone began to ring. She jumped and reached down to grab it. Not looking, she fumbled and knocked it down onto the floor of the passenger side. She took her foot off the accelerator, swearing as she fumbled for her phone. Who could honestly be calling her at this time of the night?

Her fingers wrapped around her phone and she straightened herself up and glanced at the caller ID and then back at the road.

Then it happened.

The car clipped something and knocked her off course. She hit the brakes; heart racing a thousand miles as the car swerved and screeched to a stop.

She was panting harshly, panicking.

What had she hit? Had she killed an animal?

Undoing her belt, Molly shoved open the car door and climbed out. She raced round to the back of the car and stopped short as she came upon her poor victim; hand covering her mouth as she gasped in shock.

There lying crumpled on his side was a man; she'd hit a person.

Oh dear god, she'd hit a person.

Her hands trembled and her legs felt like they'd give way beneath her as she willed her feet to move. Taking one step felt like it took hours to accomplish; her brain buzzed as she tried to think of what to do.

Check to make sure he's alive.

She managed to get to him without collapsing and crouched down by his side; hands shaking as she made to reach out to him. Molly gently rolled him onto his back.

"Please don't be dead," she pleaded, pushing back a hood and dark hair to reach his neck and check for a pulse. She placed her fingers to his throat.

 _Come on_  she pleaded.  _Please have a pulse._

It was faint but there, much to her relief.

What damage had he sustained? It was then as her eyes moved down the length of her victim she realised his clothes were abnormal; that the hood he wore wasn't like anything she'd ever seen a person wear before.

Where on earth did he come from? Glancing out to the forest through the harsh fall of rain, Molly wondered where he had been coming from and where he had been heading. He looked like he'd stepped out of one of those pop culture conventions.

But her main worry was if he would be alright when he woke up.

Molly leaned over her victim and decided to check for any potential injuries that she could feel and very carefully slipped her hands round his head; fingers running through thick, dark hair to see if there were any bumps or cuts. She found one just back from his temple beneath his hair, his hair was matted with blood and the bump felt rather nasty.

She set his head back down as tenderly as possible and ran her fingers down the back of his neck, checking for anything odd or protruding. She breathed a slight sigh of relief. No neck damage, well that she could find.

Next she ran her fingers down his right arm, pressing and feeling beneath the layers of odd clothing for any broken bones. His right arm was thankfully free of anything broken. His left arm, as she began to feel down it was another story. She could feel the swelling lump just below his elbow on his forearm; a break most likely. His fingers were all swollen too.

Okay, so she clipped his left side.

Checking for spinal damage was going to be a problem. She knew she really shouldn't even more him but they couldn't sit here in the rain.

Next she pushed open the leather coat he wore to check his torso. His left side might be tender when he woke up but without any scans or x-ray vision, which would've come in handy right about now, she wouldn't know if he had broken ribs or bleeding until he was awake and she could get him into the hospital.

She finally got to his legs which seemed to be alright by what she could feel; nothing broken or protruding terribly out of place.

She gnawed on her bottom lip as she began to weigh the thoughts swimming round in her mind. He probably needed to be taken to the hospital but it was fifty minutes away by now and what could they do for him that she couldn't, aside from hooking him up to machines?

Then another con came to her; she couldn't detect head trauma, spinal problems or internal injuries. But if she took him to the hospital it would mean a mountain of paperwork, a million and one questions as to how the accident had happened and even worse, she could end up suspended.

She was a nurse, she knew better than to answer her phone while driving, least of all go fishing for it when it fell to the floor.

There was no pro to taking to the hospital. Home was only a few minutes away now. She could take him home for the night and get him to the hospital once he woke up. That would also give her time to prepare for the worst when she did take him in.

If she took him home for the night at least she could help him out as best she could and then decide in the morning if he needed more extensive medical attention than what she could give him.

Looking at her car, she decided taking him home was the safe bet, and besides he was unconscious so he wouldn't pose much of a worry to her safety until he actually woke up and by that time, Molly would always have her trusty baseball bat at hand in the worst case scenario.

Pushing herself to her feet, Molly shuffled round to stand by his head and crouched once more.

She hooked her arms beneath his.

 _Be very careful_  Molly warned herself.  _Please don't have any spinal or neck injuries, please._

Now, Molly wasn't a tall person nor was she the strongest and when she went to tug him up a little from the ground she groaned at the sudden dead weight she was faced with moving to her car.

He weighed more than she thought he did and judging by his height, he wasn't that tall of a guy.

It took a total of five minutes for Molly to drag her still unconscious patient across the road and to the back door of her car. By that time, she was heaving for air and swearing with every tug. The rain matted her hair; her clothes clung to her like a second skin and her patient still made no sign of joining the world of the living anytime soon.

Easing his torso and head back onto the ground, she opened the back door of her car and then glanced between the seat and the unconscious man.

She realized then that it was going to be more of a challenge that she thought to get him actually into her car given how much he weighed. Huffing, she bent down and lifted him back up the way she had previously and very slowly began to drag him backwards onto the seat.

It took a while but once her back met the other door, Molly let go and leaned back, taking a moment to rest her sore arms. With the light from the roof on with the doors opened, Molly was able to now better see her newly acquired patient.

He certainly was handsome; dark hair to his shoulders, stubble covered his jaw and his skin was tanned. His clothes certainly did look like they were from a video game or some fantasy movie.

It was his height and build though that caught her attention.

Even without him actually standing up, Molly could see he was roughly her height and yet he was wider than her, not fat wide but stocky as though he was thickly muscled and sturdy beneath all his clothes.

She had never seen a man built as he was.

Easing herself out from beneath his torso and head, Molly rolled up her jacket that'd been lying on the front passengers' seat and placed it beneath his head before scrambling out of the back of the car and tucking his feet in.

She clambered back into the driver's seat and such the door.

The silence, apart from the rain beating upon the car's exterior drew in on her and she felt as though everything was closing in upon her for a moment. Shaking herself, Molly glanced at the man lying on her backseat before she drew in a deep breath and started the car.


	2. Chapter 2

  
Molly continuously glanced round at her unconscious passenger, hoping he might wake up; in part because she knew that getting him from the car and into her house was going to be significantly harder than it had been to get him into the vehicle. As she pulled into the driveway he still had not moved; Molly knew that was going to have to move him deadweight and all.

Turning the car off, she glanced at her front door. She'd never thought of it as much of a trek from the driveway to the door – until tonight.

Quickly she formulated a game plan. She'd get him out first and then come back for her things. Collecting together her bag and two set of keys she put them on the centre consul between the front seats and tucked her house keys into the pocket of her pants.

Opening her door, she climbed out and huffed as the rain began to soak through and drench her already messy dark mane and her partially dried clothes.

She pushed her door shut and then came to the door behind the driver's seat. She couldn't lift him, no; she would have to drag him across the grass and pick up mud and leaves as they went.

Opening the door, she pushed her jacket, the one he'd been using as a pillow, to the floor of the car and managed to shuffle her hands down beneath his shoulders and hook them beneath him arms. She counted to three and then heaved and began to pull.

She was dragged down as his body slid from the seat and to the ground. Molly had to apologise to her unconscious patient as he would no doubt be soaked from head to toe, back to front by the time they got to the small patch of shelter at her front door.

Determined to make it in one go and get him out of the rain as quick as possible, Molly shuffled as fast as she could across the lawn with the extra weight of the man's unconscious form and to her door. The moment rain stopped pounding down on her head and shoulders she sighed in relief and tugged her patient up underneath the shelter at the door.

Straightening up with a soft pained groan and a kink in her lower back, Molly dug for her house keys in her pocket. Retrieving them she shoved the key with the blue label into the lock on the large black door and turned it. The sound of the lock clicking into the unlocked position had never comforted her as much as it did now. Pushing open the door, Molly felt a small relief wash through her.

She'd made it home safe and sound and her unexpected companion was still alive by her reckoning.

The small hallway Molly dragged her patient down was simple and only a small table with accompanying mirror by the door decorated it.

Molly's place was a one level home originally lived in by a family of three; parents and a young boy. It had two bedrooms with accompanying ensuites; a nice, large kitchen, two entertainment rooms and a study (that over the last few months she had stocked to the brim with books and papers).

The spare bedroom that Molly hadn't touched yet, thankfully, was decided that it would be better to put her new roommate, John Doe, for his lack of name, in there than on her couch. She never had a need for the room anyway, except of course, when Victor came to visit. A rare occurrence but one she was always prepared for.

She opened the first door on the right of the hall and reached up to flick on the light switch. The small, Spartan style bedroom had a double bed, a chest of drawers, and two bedside tables with lamps, a walk-in wardrobe, a nice and spacey ensuite and a small entertainment unit. It was devoid of anything personal, Victor always took whatever he had with him.

Considering how wet both she and her patient were, Molly decided putting him on the bed in his current state was a poor idea and so she stopped by the side of the bed and then she took off back out the door and down the hallway. She made a mad dash for her car, collected her things, locked the beaten contraption up and then ran back into the shelter of her home.

With a sigh, she kicked the door shut and leaned back against it for a moment. At least, she noted with dry-humoured joy (the only thing currently dry about her), the power was still on for the time being and she took a moment to process the past twelve hours of her life.

Today hadn't been good to her so she wasn't sure if tonight looked any better. She had suffered being insulted and harassed by her supervisor, driven home practically blinded by the storm, she'd hit a person, had thankfully not killed him and now brought him home.

Her sardonic joy quickly disintegrated; her patient.

"Damn," Molly muttered to herself as she kicked herself back into gear and pushed off the door. Dropping her keys into the bowl on the little table in the hallway, she slung her bag over her shoulder and headed for the guest bedroom.

He was still there; unmoving and soaking wet. In the dim light Molly could just make out the steady rise and fall of his chest.

Dropping her bag by the door she decided the first course of action would be to get him out of his wet clothes and into the bed where he could warm up. It would also give her a better judge on what damage she had done to him.

Wincing at the memory, Molly knelt by his feet and picked up one of his feet. Her eyes bugged a little in disbelief. His feet were so large. She wanted to giggle at the ridiculous sight but managed to keep her composure and inspect for where to undo them.

She hoped his head was okay and he didn't have any permanent damage or memory trouble when he woke up as she wanted to know where he was going in such an outrageous outfit at one o'clock in the morning.

She didn't know of any conventions lurking round the corner for Brunswick.

Locating the buckles along his calves, she began to tug and pull at them. They each gave way and she began to unloosen the confine of the boot.

Molly paused to glance up at his face. He didn't twitch in the slightest when she jerked at the boot once it was loosen enough and pulled it from his foot. His feet were covered in a strange sock. She hadn't seen anything like it before but nothing the man was wearing was remotely familiar to Molly.

The sock was dry but Molly pulled it off once she found where it ended beneath the leg of his pants on his calf. She did the same thing with his right boot and then shuffled up to his side.

Getting the long brown leather overcoat off him proved more difficult than she had intended. Molly rolled him onto his side and managed to wrestle his right arm out of the coat and she bunched it up against his back before rolling him down onto his back and pulling him onto his right side to tug the coat off his left arm and toss the heavy, wet thing behind her.

He was so broad for such a small man. Beneath his overcoat, her patient wore a second coat, much lighter than the first and cotton rather than leather. It had a gold and black trim along the edges and was pulled tight by a thin belt round his waist.

With the overcoat off him, Molly now saw that he was definitely more stocky and solid than a normal man. What was this guy, a bodybuilder? Anyway, she reached for the belt, feeling how solid his belly was beneath his clothes.

Undoing the belt was one of the easier parts of stripping her patient Molly quickly found out.

After she'd removed his thinner coat, Molly unlaced the ties of his shirt. She reached for his shoulders and arms, pulling him up into a sitting position.

"Seriously you're heavy," she muttered to him along with a string of curses and that he needed to wake up so getting him out of his clothes would be a little easier.

She reached round and grabbed a fistful of his shirt at the back and tugged it up. She managed to get it over his head and ease him back onto the ground without jolting him round too much.

A tiny squeal of irritation escaped her when she found that beneath his shirt was something similar to a one piece pyjama suit.

"Easy Molly. Get his pants off and then deal with the onesie," she told herself as she reached for the belt of his pants.

A snort escaped her and her nose crinkled up. This was the easiest time she'd ever had getting a guy out of his pants and the poor guy wasn't even awake for it. Pushing aside her amusement, Molly undid the belt and then the laces of his pants.

She managed to shimmy his pants off and found that he was indeed wearing a onesie; a very grubby one at that. Didn't this guy ever change his underclothes?

Deciding that his  _underwear_  was dry enough for him to keep on, Molly pushed herself to her feet and pulled the covers of the bed back.

For the third time that night, Molly lifted her patient up and dragged him. She managed to get him into the bed and beneath the covers.

Collapsing down beside him for a moment, Molly just stared at the ceiling. Could she call it quits yet and join him in slumber? Unfortunately she knew the answer to that.

Second job; check him for further injuries and deal with them as best she could.

* * *

Kili's mind awoke long before his body did. Thoughts raced and worries pounced upon him faster than any enemy ever could. Where was he? Had he died? What were those strange beacons? What hit him? Were the others safe? Was Fili alright? What would Thorin think of him after this?

His fingers began to tingle and he tried to wriggle them. His right hand moved easily; his left though wouldn't budge. His fingers felt trapped. Frowning, Kili began to panic.

It was however pointless when his body wouldn't wake up as fast as his mind had. His left side was sore when his body began to gain feeling again; it felt like he'd been rammed into by a careening cart.

His eyes stung when he managed to pry them open and was met with a white ceiling. Where was he? Rivendell? Had the elves found him and taken him into their care? His forehead creased in confusion as he shifted a little, groaning from the pain.

Kili wanted to push himself into a sitting position but even the slightest shift sent a sharp jolt of pain along his left side, particularly his ribs.

Then he heard it; a soothing humming.

With a hoarse grunt, Kili pushed himself into an upright position, hissing as pain shot up his left side. He clutched at his ribs.

He froze; where in the name of Aulë was he?

It was nothing like he'd ever laid eyes on before. A room, a bed and some strange things were scattered about. Part of him wanted to investigate everything that was unknown to him in the room however there were more pressing matters than that.

Like who had taken him in.

He reached down to push the large, soft covers back only to find himself in nothing more than his underclothes. Even his socks had been pulled off. He pulled the covers back over himself as he heard footsteps drawing closer to where he dwelled.

What he was met with when the door was opened made Kili's eyes bug and his heart leap into his throat.

* * *

Molly had only managed to get two hours of sleep before her alarm woke her after she had dealt with her patient's injuries. He'd been a right mess too. She felt terrible for having been the one to inflict it upon him even if it had been an accident.

His left arm was broken and his fingers were badly bruised. She'd managed to make a splint and wrapped his arm up; his fingers had been a little harder to deal with so she'd put ice on them while she worked on the rest of him before wrapping them up.

She couldn't do much for his ribs, they were merely bruised and once he woke up she'd make sure to get some ice on him.

She'd wrapped up his head once she had discovered a large bump and cut right near his left temple in his hair.

There wouldn't be any permanent damage.

After she'd taken care of him, Molly had trudged to her bedroom stripped down and managed to pull on boxers and a shirt before collapsing into her bed and promptly falling straight to sleep.

As soon as her alarm had begun to blast at five, Molly had managed to force herself onto her feet and shuffle into a cool shower.

She'd stuck her head in to check on her patient only he hadn't moved from where she'd left him only a few hours prior.

Shutting the door gently behind her, she began to hum as she made her way down the hall and towards the kitchen at the end. It was simple and small; everything was neat and nothing was out of place.

"First things first, start breakfast and then make a list of stuff to get from work for him," she told herself and with that she set about grabbing what she needed from the pantry, cupboards and fridge. Unsure as to whether or not he'd be awake, Molly opted for cooking him something anyway.

Humming along to _Pride_  and as she let the bacon cook, she grabbed a pen and post-it from the counter and sat down at the small two seater kitchen table to start her list.

She'd need some painkillers, not an overly strong does but something that might help him sleep once he was awake. Checking the missing persons board the front desk had started up a few weeks back. He had no identification on him but hopefully someone was looking for him or knew him to be missing.

Sighing, she glanced round at the clock. Quarter past six. It was going to be a long day.

Shifting her attention back to her list, she put down more bandages and she'd have to rummage round for some anti-inflammatory cream to help him with his fingers and ribs.

She'd also have to check if she had anything of Victor's lying round clothing wise that he might fit. There was no way Molly was putting him back into the clothes she'd found him in.

With her list out of the way, she headed back to the stove to flip the bacon over and crack some eggs into a second pan on another hot plat before putting four slices of toast in.

Once it was all cooked to how she liked it, Molly divided it up onto two plates and made sure to grab a bottle of water from the fridge. Picking up one of the plates, a knife and a fork she decided to check in on her patient and see if he was up yet or not.

Making her way down the hall, she wondered whether she'd done the right thing in bringing him home. Part of her was saying yes that it had been safer than trying to drive back into town but another part of her reasoned that she'd brought a stranger into her house and she wouldn't even let her colleagues from work come over.

Shoving the thought aside, she manoeuvred everything round so she had a free hand and with a little more hesitance than she was expecting, Molly reached for the door knob and opened it.

As it opened she found herself more than a little surprised that her previously unconscious patient was now very much so conscious and looked nothing short of confused and maybe even a little afraid.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Silence; so heavy and uncomfortable that Molly was grateful to have her hands preoccupied for otherwise she would have probably clutched at her singlet and ruined the material. Both patient and carer knew not what to say to the other. They simple stared; Molly in partial amazement that her patient was actually sitting up considering the glaring fact she'd hit him with her car only hours prior while Kili was still simply trying to process what in the name of Mahal was going on.

Where was Fili? Mahal, his head hurt. His throat was sore. Where were his clothes and weapons?

He didn't remember this female which meant she had to have found him after he'd been rendered unconscious for the second time in less than a day. She had been his saviour.

Kili however became distracted by the delicious smell of food wafting towards him; his stomach growled in anticipation. He clutched at his stomach as the sensation of hunger distracted him from the pain in his ribs momentarily.

The fingers of his right hand trembled and he grimaced, uncomfortable with the foreign sensation that began to slither up his arm.

Kili's dark eyes swept over the girl from head to toe. She couldn't be any taller than he; did that make her Dwarf kind? It couldn't. She showed no signs of facial hair, her nose was too thin, face too delicate and she most assuredly was not broad enough to be a female of his kind.

She was a Halfling then? He glanced at her feet; no, not a Halfling – her feet were small and bare of any hair. But he hadn't seen all the different types of Halfings. He didn't know if they all were like Bilbo.

Was the Hobbit okay? He hoped that no one was hurt wherever they were?

This female was much too short to be Elf kind; pretty enough though. A sweet, full face with bright blue eyes stared back at him. Yes, a human he decided she had to be; a considerably young human.

And she had saved him from the harsh weather and possible death. This tiny female had been his saviour. He felt pathetic. He was an heir of Durin, he'd braved more than most in his young years and a woman had saved his life.

Kili was dragged from his thoughts by the clearing of a throat and he realised that he had been openly staring upon this highly underdressed female. He had never seen a woman so underdressed. He felt his cheeks grow warm from embarrassment; Fili would have cuffed him across the back of the head for staring like he had been and Thorin would no doubt have lectured him on manners.

He wondered whether her husband or family minded that she had brought him into what was clearly her home and how she was dressed to greet him.

However when he raised his eyes to her face, Kili was surprised that it was not anger or embarrassment upon her face but worry. This scantily clad petite female was worried for him.

* * *

Molly couldn't help but grimace a little as the items in her hands grew heavy, putting strain on her wrist and she released the doorknob in order to resituate everything in her arms. Watching him, Molly his eyes had dropped low upon her and with a quick glance down she realised that she was only wearing her boxers and a singlet; hardly clothes a nurse should wear to greet a patient when he first woke up. He'd been clutching at his stomach and she grew worried that maybe his torso was worse than she'd initially predicted. Well, that settled it; she was taking him to the hospital with her, once she managed to think up a solid enough story to explain everything.

Clearing her throat a little, Molly saw his eyes come back up to her face. Drawing in a deep, shaky breath she gave her patient the warmest smile she could muster under such an intense gaze.

She hoped to break some of the tension by means of food and water; she only hoped he was hungry and thirsty. To be honest, Molly could deal with a patient a hell of a lot better than she was presently but maybe that was because their suffering hadn't been at her hands.

Molly tried to keep her nerves in check as she made her way across the room, keeping her eyes on her patient; wary of him. "How- How do you feel?"

It seemed he was just as wary of her as she was him for the closer she got to him the more he seemed to shift back and then sideways, face contorting with pain. She didn't get an answer; in truth, she didn't really need one from him. Every little movement he made seemed to give him pain; he wasn't good with a poker face.

She set the plate of food down on the bedside table; gave a sigh of relief and shook her wrist out to ease it. Old injuries – they never left. Glancing at the young man, she noticed the confusion on his features.

Smiling, she spoke: "Old injury." He gave her the smallest of nods. Well, at least he understood English. She held her hand out to him. "I'm Molly by the way."

* * *

The closer she drew to the bed Kili, despite the ache in his side and arm, shifted back and away from her; ever conscious of the thought that she might be some sorceress of immense power. His stomach growled when the heady aroma of food, bacon and eggs, reached his nostrils. She placed the plate of food on the bedside table, straightening up and shaking her wrist.

He almost flinched; worried she might be casting some spell upon him. His mother had told him bedtime stories of enchantresses so beautiful that even a dwarf would sway beneath her pull. Was she some powerful witch who had dragged him here? Wherever here was?

He wanted his bow. He felt safer with it in his hand.

She spoke common tongue. He nodded slowly at her comment about some old injury, grimacing at the pull in his neck. Mahal, what had hit him?

He leaned back as she thrust a hand out to him. Molly, or so she claimed her name was, stared at him as he glanced from her face to her hand. Very slowly he slipped his hand round hers, surprised by how warm it was and was a little startled when she shook his hand and then pulled away. Did she not expect him to kiss the back of her hand?

Silence fell over them as she dropped something on the side of the bed by his leg and headed for a door off to the side.

He had so many questions to ask.

"Where am I?" he asked and saw her stop. She didn't turn back to him however. "Where's Fili? What did Gandalf do? Who are you really? Are you a Hobbit? You don't look like a Hobbit. Your feet are too small and not hairy enough."

She stopped. "Hobbit?" He glanced up at her and saw her brows furrowed in thought. "What do you remember?"

He frowned. What did he remember? Not much. Vague flashes. His head hurt.

"The cave. A bright light. Then the forest and storm. Then a black river and two lights," he summarised the whole thing, unsure as to what he should and should not give away to her.

She didn't say anything merely disappeared through the door and he heard her rattling round in there. Kili frowned.

He wanted up and out of this bed, no matter how sore he was, Kili could not settle in and rest. He had to find a way back to his brother, to his uncle, his friends. Inching towards the edge of the bed, he turned and planted his feet upon the ground.

He was just about to push himself up, despite the shaking in his legs when Molly strode back into the room. "You shouldn't try standing just yet," she told him.

He halted, dark eyes cast in her direction and he knew her tone held a firmness that read she normally was not challenged at this order.

Aside from his mother it had been rare for Kili to interact with females in his years. He spent the majority of his days around his uncle and the guards training. Females were distractions and Kili was young, he had the rest of his years to find a wife. He was only ever use to the stern voice of his mother or Kahvi, the chief healer in Ered Luin. Two women who spoke to him in the firm tone like this small human was.

Kili was an heir of Durin, he was not about to take orders from a human, least of all a female.

Pushing on the mattress, Kili heaved himself to his feet and almost immediately regretted his stubbornness as his legs almost gave out. The human moved quicker than he expected and had caught his arms, trying to hold himself steady as his vision swam in a blurred mess.

He moaned as pain flared in his right hip. "What hit me?" he mumbled as he let the female ease him back down onto the bed. He buried his head in his hands, praying the throbbing would pass quickly. Mahal, he didn't like this. He'd lived through broken bones and fevers but this, this was terrible.

"My car, sorry 'bout that by the way."

Car? His brows furrowed as he tried to imagine the monster of a thing that had managed to do such damage to him. If he had his sword or bow, he would've slain it.

"I'm actually really glad you're awake, I wanted to take you to the hospital and make sure you were okay but you're kinda heavy-" she trailed off when he glanced at her with narrowed eyes. He was not that heavy. "I'm not an Olympic weightlifter buddy and you might be short but you are heavy."

Kili wished she would cease her rambling; her words were doing nothing to ease the knots in his belly or the throbbing in his head. As he focused back on her, he realised she was still talking. Mahal, he needed her to stop talking. "Kili."

"I'm sorry?"

He sighed and straightened up slowly, trying hard not to wince at the sharp course of pain that attacked him as he did. "My name is Kili."

There was only silence and Kili was grateful for it but judging by the furrow on her eyebrows and pursing of her lips, she was thinking and that meant she'd start talking again soon enough.

He needed to be like Fili, like Thorin. Neither of them would act like he would, they wouldn't be foolish. They'd keep their heads.

When she did speak he was surprised by her words. "Odd name for a guy but better than Guy I suppose and at least you remember your name, means there's no amnesia and you might be able to explain just why you ended up on the road in the middle of nowhere dressed like a Dungeons and Dragons warrior."

She spoke like Bofur. He almost found it endearing to the human female. She was incredible small for a human woman. Dungeons and Dragons? They had dragons in this realm too? Mahal save him. This world was more confusing than Rivendell's corridors were to navigate.

"I do not know how I came to be where I was. As I said prior to this, I remember a bright light and then I was within the forest," he grumbled out.

The woman, Molly, very slowly nodded at him, a disbelieving look cast his way. "Right," she drawled and then clapped her hands together, startling him. "Well, you take the cake for being able to stay in character Kili but I'm being serious here. People don't just  _pop_  into the middle of a forest out of thin air like magic."

He paused in his move to argue. "Magic does not exist in this realm?" He had poised it as a question but she merely glowered at him.

"No magic does not exist  _in this realm_  and you really need to break talking like that, it's starting to weird me out. No one speaks like that," she commented.

What was so odd with his way of talking? It's how he always talked.

Kili's eyes took in the serious look upon her face and felt both his heart and stomach plummet at once. No magic meant no spell to send him home. He felt his heart kickstart rapidly. He was isolated and without a way home. He quickly reigned himself in, eyes finding his host's beseechingly.

"There is nothing wrong with how I talk, human," he started and using the small wooden stand beside the bed, he pushed himself up to his feet so they were at eye level. He saw the woman frown and he stopped, playing what he'd said back in his head and realised his fumble. He had referred to her as a human. Mahal be damned he cursed.

"Human?" she mocked, folding her arms across her chest and standing in a similar fashion of his mother when she argued with his uncle. "Look buddy, I don't know how where you believe you're LARP character is from; Azeroth, Narnia, Discworld, Earthsea, Emelan, Westeros, Forgotten Realms, Gielinor, Hyboria- I don't care but this is Earth and you are as human as I am."

Kili scowled. "I am Kili, son of Dis, nephew of Thorin Oakenshield and an heir of Durin's Folk of the dwarf race of Arda and I am not human," he bit not. "And I want to go home."

* * *

Molly stood there a little dumbfounded by his sudden flare in temper. She put her hands up and took a small step backwards. Good on you Molly for making possible crazy person angry at you her mind cheered sarcastically.

She wondered if the crazy house was missing a patient but when she managed to gather the strength to look him in the eyes she didn't see crazy in them. She saw anger and panic. What was he panicking over? She wasn't the one who weighed twice their weight and was still able to stand, albeit on shaky legs, after being hit by a car.

That hit should've killed him.

Dwarf. He didn't look like one of Snow White's dwarfs but when she thought back on the story she'd heard over the years she had a feeling he was more the Markus Heitz kind of dwarf if what he was saying was true.

She felt ridiculous in even contemplating believing him. She knew people could get so wrapped up in those fantasy worlds and immerse themselves into them to the point where they wanted nothing more than to live and breathe in them.

Drawing in a shaky breath, Molly lowered her hands. "Alright, Kili, the dwarf. Could you please sit back down for me? You're not doing your injuries any favours by standing up," she said.

After a moment or so, he slowly sunk back down onto the edge of the bed. She let her shoulders drop in relief.

"Look I don't know exactly what has or is going on here but I do know that you need to get checked out by the hospital. I would've taken you last night when I got you into the car but I freaked out," she explained. "This isn't Arda, this is Earth and you need to listen to me if you don't wanna end up being thrown into the crazy house within five seconds of stepping out of my house."

* * *

Kili watched her. She was going to help him? He didn't like lying. He had nothing to be ashamed of. "I am-"

"I get it, alright. Well, somewhat, but as of this moment you need to please listen to what I say," she interrupted. Kili lowered his gaze, trying to assess and come up with something to respond with but he couldn't. He was in a very strange, foreign realm and his only hope was, truthfully, her.

She was human but she was honest, or from what he could tell she was. Kili had no choice. Without an immediate way home Kili could do nothing but try and survive.

He nodded. "My life-" he started and shut his eyes, drawing in a deep breath, "is in your hands."

She startled him for the second time round by clapping. "Right, now we need to get you out of this house and into the car." Kili dreaded how this was going to go. He did not doubt that he could hardly walk and that she would barely be able to support his weight being so skinny. He was also a little worried about journeying in this car beast.


	4. Chapter 4

Hi guys, so I've stopped writing fanfiction for a while now - I do apologise to those who were hoping I would continue my stories in the fandoms but I decided to focus on my original content instead. 

In saying that - I am working on converting and updating my one-shots like this one into a new, clean, non-fandom piece. My writing has improved during my absence and as such I decided that I loved these works and wanted them as a way to silently remember all that fanfiction has taught me over the years.

A number of my base concepts in my larger works - such as Things We Owe with Nora's past and my gargoyle story in the I, Frankenstein fandom (My future Immortals series is on dragon shifters, werewolves, gargoyles, etc) and the like are going to appear in my future original works. I just wanted to let those who were waiting on updates of these know why I've been gone so long. 

I am sorry for those who have been waiting for updates it was never my original intention to completely abandon them but I just didn't have the time to work on them while studying, working and then trying to get other things written.

Love,  
Eileen Parry <3


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